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18 Photos Of Trucks That Took On Way Too Much (And It Cost Them)

Automobiles changed the world. They make life easier for humans, making far away destinations within reach. Not only do they help move people from one place to the next, but also all their things and valuables.

One of the benefits to driving automobiles are their ability to haul cargo around the world. Cars, pickups and semi-trucks are no different. Whether it’s a teenager heading off to college with the car packed, or a trucker who has to haul a product to its destination by sunrise, people depend on vehicles to move prized possessions.

With cars and trucks being a popular way to move precious cargo, it opens up the possibility of mishaps to ensue. People constantly push their vehicles to the extreme, even when it comes to hauling and towing materials. They might have limited space and a short window of time to get their cargo to a specific destination, causing them to go to great lengths to make it happen.

When people overstuff their cars or trucks with materials, then it gets weighed down and affects the vehicle's performance. Despite the potential consequences of tipping over their vehicle or causing irreparable damage to the company car, they risk a heavy load anyways.

Drivers and their vehicles caught carrying more than they can handle is a road-related epidemic that’s all too common. Gathered here's a list of photos showing vehicles that clearly bit off more than they could chew. Although it’s something most drivers are guilty of doing at least once, these ones went too far.

18 Boatload

via Trans-Pro Logistics

It doesn’t get any bigger than this. This is the king of all truckloads, extending far behind the standard width of conventional roads. Trans-Pro Logistics confirms that 8.5-feet is the maximum legal width, with a height exceeding no more than 53-feet tall. Anything beyond that deems it an “oversized load.”

One could argue that any oversized load is more than a truck can handle, except that plenty of vehicles prove time and again they're capable of hauling such sizeable objects. This load appears to be a part of a ship, as indicated by the propellers and that it’s coming from a shoreline in the background.

17 Lincoln Logs

via Pinterest

This truck might bear the same color blue as Paul Bunyan’s blue ox, Babe, though it’s no lumberjack. While appreciating the great challenge this truck took on, it still failed to succeed in hauling these bundles of logs without mishap.

Even more, the logs managed to crush the wind deflector and cause immense damage to the truck’s cabin.

The weight of the logs is so heavy in fact, the wheels appear stuck into the mud underneath as it leans into an off-road ditch. With a whole bundle sitting diagonally off to the side, it appears the truck loaded up one too many logs.

16 Roof Afoot

via dailygazette.com

Some of the toughest vehicles on the road are semi-trucks. Except when a truck ends up hauling more than it can handle, its fragilities start to show.

According to The Daily Gazette, the semi-truck’s roof hung low enough to catch on to the underside of an overpass, causing the roof to rip off.

A chunk of the roof—not pictured here—even managed to remain clinging to the overpass. The rest of it folded out in a long sheet on the road, crumbled up like kitchen foil wrap. Lower bridges have a tendency to damage semi-trucks, impeding a driver’s journey to get cargo from one place to the next.

15 Tractor Awry

via insidesocal.com

Big rig accidents happen in States across the nation. Inside SoCal reports that this tractor mishap occurred in Pasadena in Los Angeles County. According to their report, not only did the trailer lose control and veer off the road, but it ended up falling on railroad tracks.

A load this big ended up facing a dangerous threat, considering a train could always appear just around the corner. It’s not the first piece of construction equipment to get hauled on this list while have something undesirable happen as a result. Built tough and often heavy, construction equipment ends up being too unwieldy for many trucks to haul.

14 Generator Accident

via Rutland Herald

Driving a semi-truck is different from operating a regular class C vehicle; that’s why there’re different class licenses available. This particular truck shows the kind of special maneuvering drivers need to be able to do when behind the wheel of a semi.

According to The Rutland Herald, this semi had the tough task of moving a huge generator across town. In the course of its journey though, it met an unfortunate fate making a turn in a residential area. The front of the truck went off the road and not only sat stranded but blocked the entire intersection for the interim.

13 Timber Trouble

via YouTube user Ernest Bontrager

It’s easy to criticize drivers for their towing fails. Unless it puts other lives at risk though, most spectators should reserve judgement. When confronted with a hauling challenge, drivers do their best to make the load work with what vehicles they've got.

While it doesn’t always go off without a hitch, it deserves some level of sympathy for the situation they have to endure. As per a video uploaded by YouTube user Ernest Bontrager, a whole load of timbers on the back of a semi managed to shift unexpectedly from a sharp turn. Not only does it depend on a securely fastened load, but a competent driver to get materials safely to their destination.

12 Car Hauler

via Albany Democrat-Herald

A semi carrying a fleet of cars on the highway has a huge undertaking. While driving on the I-5 highway, according to the Democrat-Herald, this semi-truck lost control and veered off the road, which resulted in taking its haul of six cars along with it.

The driver lucked out with nothing tipping over, or where cars detached from the trailer, though it still ended up in a jackknifed stance in the end. While it’s common for semis to transport this many cars—which are often visible on freeways across the nation—this proved too much of a task for this particular vehicle.

11 Alwar Truck

via Wikimedia Commons

It’s not exactly clear what kind of goods this truck is hauling. What's clear though is that it’s carrying far more than it should probably attempt. With luggage hanging out its backside, it’s liable to tip up backwards during transit. If that were to happen, all the goods it's carrying could go to waste.

Painted along the side of the truck are the words “Goods Transport Operators Union.” Further down the banner is Alwar, which is a major city in northern India, confirming the whereabouts of this truck. While the truck looks securely fastened for the moment, it’s a whole different story once it gets moving.

10 Between A Rock And An Overpass

via Houston Chronicle

There appears to be a pattern with some of the oversized loads on this list, where drivers pay enough attention to the width of cargo, but less to its height.

According to the Houston Chronicle, this truck had the task of hauling enormous construction equipment that exceed 14-feet tall.

The incident took place in Texas on the Interstate 45. The good news is that it only affected the far right lane, though appears to be stuck with the cooling fan equipment embedded to the overpass above it. While the truck had no problem loading up this equipment, it ended up taking something taller than it should have.

9 Caterpillar Catastrophe

via The Tennessean

Oftentimes a vehicle will have to carry another vehicle that’s much larger than it. This particular trailer had a heavy duty dump truck strapped to it. While the dump truck was securely fastened to the trailer, it’s the height that proved a problem.

Occurring on the Interstate 64 in Nashville, according to the Tennessean, this oversized Caterpillar equipment managed to collide with part of an overpass. The dump truck not only closed the Interstate 64, but also part of the Interstate 40, which is the overpass it collided with. This load proved too much for the truck to handle, leading to a major mishap.

8 Sugarcane Truck

via Philippinefails

This enormous truck recalls an old proverb about the last straw breaking the camel’s back. Only in this particular scenario, the straw is sugarcane and the camel is a truck with a dumpster strapped to its back.

The blog Philippinefails reports that it’s common to find vehicles on the road overloaded with materials going from one place to the next. Trucks loaded with sugarcane are different though. According to the same source, sugar companies decide on what conditions are proper for hauling sugarcane. It may not look ideal with bundles sticking out the back—suggesting it’s more than this truck can handle—though one can only hope it got approved.

7 Hauling Hogs

via Brandon Sun

Truckers load up their vehicles with almost every kind of commodity imaginable to move something from point A to point B. According to the Brandon Sun, this particular truck was full of a bunch of hogs departing from Decker Colony in Manitoba, Canada.

It appears that after the accident, when a truck overturned near a gas station, that they moved the hogs to a new truck. In comparing the two trucks, the new one looks a lot more equipped to handle a few hogs, where the previous truck faltered. Certain trucks aren’t made to carry livestock, as this one incident proves.

6 Gas Pipe Mishap

via cybertext.wordpress.com

If there’s a recurring theme among these photos, it's that Murphy’s Law is more applicable in truck driving than in any other profession. As the blog CyberText Newsletter notes, this huge truck loaded up some gas pipes longways to take for a ride.

During the course of its progress though, the pipes emerged from the back and crashed through the cabin and out the front windshield.

It’s the kind of freak accident that can harm people and also cost lots of money at the same time. Some trucks end up becoming inundated with its haul, leading to undesirable circumstances on the road.

5 Oversize Load

via DelawareOnline.com

Even when a truck driver does their due diligence in strapping on an “oversized load” banner on the front grille and covering up the trailer in tarp, it's still susceptible to accidents. In spite of making these precautions, the truck met an unfortunate fate on the highway.

Delaware Online reports that the accident occurred on the I-95 overpass, though it looks isolated and no other vehicles are in the vicinity. The accident resulted in trails of wreckage and materials spilling out behind the truck. Enough piles of the truck’s load crowded the street to impede any cars from advancing further.

4 Rampant Produce

via CT Post

Hauling snafus can lead to major portions of highways closing off, leading to further traffic and congestion. As CT Post reports, this tractor-trailer had an entire trailer loaded with produce. While several fallen bags ripped open, leading to stray food on the road, most of the load remained intact.

To the left of the split truck is another smaller one that’s loading up any salvaged produce. Now that the first truck no longer has a trailer with walls capable of finishing the journey, another truck has arrived to help. Even bags of produce can become too much for a truck to handle.

3 Heavy Duty Tank

via ETV News

The bigger the semi’s load, the bigger the challenge it is to carry. This truck has an enormous tank strapped to its trailer that is long, tall and likely, very heavy. It’s no wonder a load like this encountered some difficulties on a highway.

According to ETV News, the incident occurred in Price Canyon, which is a city in Utah. When a load like this encounters a problem, it can affect the entire highway, blocking every lane in one direction. When a truck takes a load that’s beyond its capability of towing, then others can suffer the consequences of that decision.

2 Motor Home Mishap

via Towing Trend

Pickup trucks can usually haul thousands of pounds more than one would expect. While they might be much smaller than the trailer they’re towing behind, the awkward size or immense weight usually isn't a problem. That doesn’t mean all pickup trucks are perfect for towing though.

As this particular pickup tries to take on this mobile home, one can see the back half weighed down by this gargantuan tow. There are several factors, as Truck Trend notes, to consider when towing, such as the ball mount size on a trailer and applying ample grease. By following these practices, drivers will find towing to be a walk in the park.

1 Overloaded Truck

via Reddit user freeballintompetty

It’s not uncommon to find pickup trucks pushed to their limits. This Ram 4x4 looks like it’s bursting at the seams with all of the stuff that’s strapped to the back.

In a photo posted by Reddit user freeballintompetty, the truck’s bed is full of an assortment of items from ladders to strollers to major appliances. Topping it all off is a tarp with bungee cords holding it all together.

As of the time of this photo, the truck still appears stable and secure, yet it's somewhat precarious to venture out on the road with so much hanging out the back.